


you lean on me, I'll lean on you

by brionylarkin



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drug Abuse, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Kid Fic, Parent Klaus Hargreeves, Platonic Life Partners, Pregnancy, and klaus has a kid, canon? idk her, in which klaus' family realize he's not a screw up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2020-01-31 12:10:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18591010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brionylarkin/pseuds/brionylarkin
Summary: In which Klaus just needs a friend and a damn good reason to get sober.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i should be working on Can't Go, Won't Go, but this story bit me in the ass and wouldn't let go, so here we are. hope you enjoy!

Klaus first meets Katie when he is nineteen and she is twenty one. He’s in his third rehab trip in as many years. She’s in her second. They bond over fighting for the TV remote (Bobby in the corner is a dirty thief) and a shared love of ecstasy. They both have a sort of schizophrenia, though Katie’s is a disease that can be treated and Klaus’ is… something else. 

Katie gets out a week before he does and Klaus expects that to be the end of it, but when he swings out after his thirty days, annoyingly sober and raring for a hit, there she is outside. 

Katie settles in at his side as if she’d always been there and it’s good. She never questions his arguing with people she can’t see and he doesn’t question her nightmares. It’s a perfect balance, really. They share alleyways and beds in shelters and even drugs, and sure they hook up a few times, but it’s never anything romantic. They love each other but they’re friends. Best friends. 

Sometimes Klaus will turn to Katie, whether she’s cackling gleefully as they run from the cops or shaking as she comes down from a bad high, and think he could spend the rest of his life with her, his best friend, and be so, so happy. 

“I’d give up drugs for you,” he declares once, staring up at the spinning motel room ceiling. 

Laying next to him, Katie says, “Yeah?” Klaus nods seriously and heaves himself up to face her. 

“Yeah, I would,” he slurs because they’re both high as fuck. “You’re my best friend.” 

“Me, too,” she mumbles into his shoulder and they both collapse into helpless giggles. 

When she’s twenty six and staring down at a positive pregnancy test, Katie remembers this conversation and hopes she’ll be able to give up the drugs for someone else. Then, she tells Klaus. Understandably, he freaks the fuck out. 

“Calm down,” she says, desperately trying to hide her fear under flippancy. “It’s not like it’s yours.” It’s not (they haven’t had sex in months), but that doesn’t make it any easier to process. 

“Well, wh-what are you going to do?” Klaus asks, wide-eyed. Katie takes a deep breath and tells him.

“I’m keeping it. We have an apartment right now, so we’re not homeless. I could--could get a job, pay rent in ways other than blowjobs, y’know? I can make it work.” 

Klaus breathes in a shaky breath, then lets it out. “Alright then, love,” he says. “What’s our first step here?”

“‘Our’?” she asks, hoping this is what she thinks it is. 

Klaus gives her a ‘duh’ look. “Well, obviously, I’m not letting you do this by yourself.” Katie lets out a sob despite her best attempts to hold it in and Klaus immediately pulls her in for a hug. 

“I need to get sober,” she mutters into his shirt. “I don’t want to hurt her. It’s not just me anymore.” Klaus says nothing, but there’s a determined set to his chin where it rests on Katie’s head. 

Days and days later, when Katie breaks down, sweaty and shaking through withdrawal, Klaus is right there next to her, experiencing the same symptoms. 

“What do you miss most about drugs?” Katie asks idly in her third month of being pregnant. She’s sitting on the floor in front of the couch, letting Klaus do her hair (he’s damn good at it; she’s always saying he should’ve been a hairdresser, but they have no money to send him to beauty school).

“Being numb,” Klaus answers almost automatically. “You’ve seen my nightmares, love. What else would it be?” Katie ‘hmm’s but nods in agreement. Klaus has  _ epic  _ nightmares, but, then again, so does she. They’ve only recently saved up enough money for her to regularly take antipsychotics, which help so much during the day but barely touch what happens at night. 

“But I wouldn’t be able to serve coffee if I was high,” he declares dramatically. “And where would the poor, innocent coffee lovers go then, huh? That shop was dead without me to brighten it up!” Katie laughs and Klaus gently flicks her in the ear as punishment for moving her head. 

“What about you?” he ask, screwing his face up in concentration as he finishes tying to last braid up.

“Probably the excitement, honestly,” she says as she runs her hands over her hair. It has four braids all leading to the bun in the center. “Ecstasy always makes me feel so  _ alive _ , y’know? Nothing else can replicate it.” They pause for a moment before Klaus claps his hands together. 

“Let’s stop being so depressing, shall we?” He hops to his feet and crosses to the record player on the other side of the room (he found it at a garage sale and insisted it was “a steal, Katie!” The records were gifts from their NA friends). 

“ABBA or Queen?” he asks as he rifles through the pile. “I’m voting for ABBA.”

“Well, I’m voting for Queen,” Kate volleys back. He turns to her, hand on his heart.

“Betrayal!” He grabs the ABBA record. “Well, I don’t see you over here, so I guess it’s up to me.” By the time Katie gets to her feet, the classic  _ Dancing Queen _ is playing and she’s helpless to stop Klaus from pulling her into a dance. 

His long flowy skirt brushes against her legs as he gently swings her around. She giggles as he mouths the lyrics to himself, their wild moves slowing to a soft swaying as the song ends. 

Katie sighs as she leans against him, not able to remember a time she was so content with her life. Klaus just smiles down at her. 

When Katie is in her sixth month, she runs into her sister. They haven’t spoken in years, not since Katie really gave into the drugs and Melinda cut her out of her life. 

She and Klaus are at a grocery store across town when it happens. Normally, they shop at the one three blocks from their apartment, but Katie is really craving a certain kind of cheese they don’t have, so here they are. 

Because this store is more expensive, they have only the cheese and some fancy nuts in their basket (which Klaus is carrying because hello! pregnant!). They’re arguing over whether it’s worth it to splurge on the overpriced bread Katie likes when a voice speaks up behind them. 

“Katie?” When Katie turns, there is Melinda, looking like she’s seen a ghost. In her shopping cart is a small toddler who looks almost exactly like her--same wispy brown hair, same pale skin.

“Melinda? H-Hi,” Katie says, eyes darting to Klaus. She can’t tell what Melinda must be thinking, catching her addict sister in Whole Foods with a man unironically wearing a shirt with puffy sleeves. 

“What are you doing here, Katie?” Melinda asks. 

Katie gestures to the basket Klaus is holding. “Just shopping.”

“Oh,” Melinda grasps her cart awkwardly. “And, who’s this?”

“This is Klaus,” Katie responds. “My best friend. Klaus, this is my sister, Melinda.”

“Ah, yes,” says Klaus, swanning forward and extending a hand to shake. “Katie’s told me so much about you!” Melinda gingerly takes his hand and he eagerly pumps it up and down. “And who’s this little munchkin?” Klaus waves a finger in front of the little boy’s face, causing him to giggle loudly and grab for Klaus’ finger. 

“His name’s Noah,” says Melinda, looking only minorly uncomfortable with Klaus’ lack of distance. “He’s my son.” 

“With… what was his name? Jason, right?” asks Katie, trying to make the conversation a little more normal. 

“Yes, but we’re actually divorced now,” Melinda says, frowning. “I’ve remarried. His name is Mark Bridges.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear about you and Jason,” Katie says with a sympathetic look. 

Melinda just snorts. “I’m not. He was a cheating bastard.” Katie looks taken aback, then laughs. 

“How are you, Katie?” asks Melinda, looking genuinely concerned. “Are you still… you know?”

“No! No, I’m not,” Kate replies, beginning to smile despite the awkwardness. “I’ve been clean almost six months now.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Melinda exclaims. “What was it that finally did it?”

“Well, I’m pregnant.” 

“Oh, that’s amazing news!” Melinda says. “So, you’re with someone then?”

“Oh, no, it’s just me and Klaus,” Katie answers. “And before you ask, we’re not together. We’ve been friends for… wow, five years now.”

“Time does fly when you’re having fun, darling,” says Klaus, causing Katie to laugh. Melinda looks down at her watch and frowns.

“I need to get going,” she says. “But, we need to keep in touch, Katie. We have so much to talk about. Can I have your phone number?” Katie, while somewhat surprised at Melinda making such an effort, eagerly agrees. The sisters leave each other with the other’s number. 

“Well, that was… weird,” Katie says as they leave the store. “I can’t believe Melinda actually wants to be associated with me.” 

“Do you think… do you think my siblings would be happy to see me?” Klaus asks, not looking at her. Katie leans against him and begins to rub his back.

“You could always call them,” she suggests. “I’m sure they’d be happy to hear from you.” She gets to her feet as the bus pulls up. She can practically feel him thinking on it. 

Klaus doesn’t call. 

In her eighth month, Katie and Klaus make bets about the gender of the baby. They get some of their NA friends in on it too (Bill, Sonya, and Elias are twenty-three, thirty-four, and nineteen respectively, and they are almost as psyched about the baby as Klaus and Katie are). There are three bets on a girl and two on a boy. Katie is the most sure she’s ever been that it’s going to be a girl. 

“I can just feel it,” she says when questioned. “She feels like a girl.” Neither Klaus nor Katie bring up names. They both agree that they’ll know when they see the baby. They’ve gathered the furniture for the nursery, they have clothes, they have diapers and formula and pretty much everything a baby needs. A lot of it was obtained through Goodwill and thrift shops and even a church giveaway, which is convenient for their shoestring budget. 

Late in her ninth month, Katie goes into labor. She wakes up at nearly one in the morning to some serious pain and immediately starts yelling for Klaus. Their apartment is a two bedroom but the second bedroom has been turned into a nursery, so Klaus and Katie are sharing a room. And one bed is cheaper than two so… they share. 

“What, what is it?” Klaus startles awake and sits up. “Oh.”

“Yeah, no kidding!” she shrieks. “Call the taxi!” Klaus stumbles out of bed and grabs the landline phone, typing in the number from memory. As soon as the company confirms that the driver will be there in ten minutes, he hangs up and pulls Katie to her feet. She groans. 

“I know, I know, just hang on a little while longer.” He helps her into her shoes and wraps a sweater around her shoulders. Grabbing the go-bag they had prepared, he slowly herds her out the door and into the elevator. 

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,” Katie mumbles to herself. Klaus just rubs her back, looking a little frantic himself. By the time they reach the lobby, the taxi is idling outside. They pile into the back and Klaus tells the driver where to go. 

The poor driver seems to sense the urgency and really steps on the gas. When they get there, Klaus fumblingly pays the man and they hurry inside. 

As Katie is settled into a wheelchair, a nurse asks, “And how do you know the patient? We only allow family into the delivery room.”

Katie hurriedly grabs Klaus’ hand and says, “He’s the father.” Klaus stares at her in shock but quickly follows her into the delivery room. 

Hours later, they find that Katie was right about the baby being a girl. 

“Hello, darling,” Klaus murmurs to the little girl he’s holding. Her hair is the same light brown as her cousin’s and her eyes are the blue of all newborns. “Aren’t you the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” On the bed next to him, a half-asleep Katie smiles at the pair. 

“I’m naming you as the father,” she says in a voice raspy from screaming. Klaus frowns at her.

“What?” he asks. “But, I’m not.” 

“You are in every way that matters,” Katie says, eyes hard. “And if I don’t, you won’t have any legal hold on her. I need you to be able to take care of her if I can’t.”

“I could always marry you,” Klaus half-teases. Katie rolls her eyes.

“This is more solid,” she says. “If something were to happen to me--”

“Don’t talk like that.” Klaus looks troubled.

“If something were to happen to me,” she says more forcefully. “I need to know you’ll be there. And I want you to help me raise her. You’re her dad, Klaus.”

Klaus sighs. “I want to be. More than anything.” He looks down at the sleeping baby. “I would marry you, you know.”

Katie laughs, “I know, but let’s save that for someone you’re in love with.”

Klaus lowers his eyelids and croons out, “Who says I’m not in love with you?” They both laugh.

“Any thoughts on her name?” Katie asks. “I have so many ideas, but none really fit.”

“I was thinking…” Klaus looks up at her. “Maybe Elizabeth? We could call her Lizzy for short.”

“A big name for such a little girl,” Katie teases. “But, Elizabeth. I like it.” Klaus grins at the newly named Elizabeth.

“Elizabeth Jones,” he tests it out. “It’s perfect.”

“Elizabeth Jones-Hargreeves,” Katie corrects him. “You’re her family, too.”

“Must we give that death sentence of a name to our child, Katie?” Klaus whines. 

“It’s your name, Klaus, no matter how much you may hate it,” Katie responds. “Don’t you want your daughter to have a connection to you?”

“Low blow, Jones.” Klaus narrows his eyes at her. “Fine, as long as Jones goes first.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> baby + hargreeves

“Katie,” Klaus says in the midst of trying to feed a nearly two year old Elizabeth. “I think you were right.”

Katie looks up from her food. “About what?” 

Klaus wipes Elizabeth’s face with a wipe and says, “About me wanting to be a hairdresser. I’ve been thinking about it a lot and I’d like to try to go to school.”

“Klaus, you’d be so amazing at that,” Katie says with a frown. “But I don’t think it’s realistic, like, money-wise, y’know?” Klaus focuses all of his attention on his daughter’s screwed up face. 

“I could maybe call my family,” he mutters without looking up. “I don’t know what they’d say, but I should at least try, right? I’m doing better now! They can take me seriously. They’ll know I’m reliable enough for a loan and everything. I-” Katie cuts him off.

“Klaus, if you call your family, it should be because you want to reconnect with them.” She rounds the table to crouch in front of his chair. “Not because you think you’re finally good enough for them. You were always good enough.”

“But-”

“Hey, look at me.” She waits until he looks up. “Drug addiction is a disease. You don’t think less of me because I was an addict, do you?” 

Klaus opens his mouth in offense. “Of course not!”

“Well, there you go,” Katie picks up Elizabeth. “Come here, love! Let’s go get you ready for bed.” 

“Bed, bed, bed!,” the little girl babbles into her mother’s shoulder. Klaus is unable to stop himself from laughing and Katie turns to him with a smug smile.

“If you’re sure about this, we can ask Melinda for a loan,” she says. “I think she’ll go for it.  _ But _ , you should really consider contacting your siblings, Klaus. I’m sure they’re worried about you.” She sweeps out of the room with Elizabeth waving at Klaus over her shoulder. Klaus wiggles his fingers in goodbye, deep in thought. 

He doesn’t call his siblings (or Pogo, or Mom). Instead, they convince Melinda to let them borrow $6,000 from her and her husband. Klaus is in cosmetology school for a little over a year. 

“It would’ve been shorter,” he declares, waving his hands around at his graduation. “But we just couldn’t bear to part, beauty school and me!” 

Elizabeth runs up to Klaus, tugging on his gown. “Daddy, up!” Klaus sweeps her up into a dramatic spin and Elizabeth shrieks with glee. 

As they’re leaving the school for the final time, one of Klaus’ teachers stops them in the hallway. 

“Oh, is this your little Elizabeth?” she asks, cooing down at the girl. “She’s as adorable as you always said, Klaus.” 

Katie nudges Elizabeth. “Say thank you,” she whispers.

“Tank you,” Elizabeth mumbles with a lisp, looking up through her unruly bangs. The teacher aww’s.

“You’ve got a gorgeous family here, Klaus,” she adds before bidding her goodbye. Klaus plucks Elizabeth up.

“We are gorgeous, aren’t we, baby?” he says teasingly. Elizabeth nods enthusiastically and Klaus blows a raspberry into her cheek. 

Elizabeth shrieks, “Daddy, no!” Klaus laughs and is startled by a shutter clicking. He looks over to find Katie holding her camera, evidently having snapped a candid shot. 

Later that same night, after Elizabeth has been put to bed, Klaus finds himself cross-legged on the bedroom floor, attempting to meditate. Though he knows it’s the best way to focus his power and avoid unwanted visitors, he still finds it incredibly difficult to clear his mind. He groans as Katie enters the room.

“Clear my fucking mind,” he mutters, collapsing backwards to lay on the carpet and rub his eyes. “I can’t even  _ find  _ my mind!” 

“You know it gets easier once you actually start,” Katie reminds him with a wry smile. She pulls off her shirt and throws it into the laundry basket with familiar ease, unabashed at changing in front of Klaus. 

“I miss Ben,” Klaus says without moving from his place on the floor. 

Katie just tuts and says, “I know.” Ben stopped appearing to Klaus over four years ago, right around the time Katie revealed she was pregnant and they both got sober. Klaus theorizes that that was Ben’s unfinished business--getting him sober. Katie has a slightly more optimistic view of things. 

“He’s happy you’re happy,” she says, crouching down next to Klaus and tugging on his arm. “C’mon. It’s time for bed.” He allows himself to be shepherded into bed, even changing into his pajamas (which he had only started wearing after a near miss with Elizabeth in the morning). 

Without even looking at Klaus lying dramatically sprawled across the bed, Katie can tell his thoughts had drifted from annoyance into frustration. 

“Any thoughts about the job hunt?” she asks in an effort to distract him. Klaus blinks at her and seems to come back to himself. 

“I’ve applied at a few places,” he says slowly. “No one’s gotten back to me yet.”

“Well, I’m sure they will.” Katie switches off the lights and quickly jumps into bed, not wanting her feet to be vulnerable to monsters. (Klaus laughs at her, but she’s seen him sprint out of the living room after turning the lights off, so who’s the real scaredy-cat?)

She’s right. Two days later, Klaus is contacted by two separate salons, both interested in interviewing him. He interviews with the one that’s closer to their apartment and the rest is history. 

Klaus and Katie pay Melinda back over the next two years with every cent they can spare from Klaus’ hairdressing and Katie’s waitressing. Soon enough, Katie works her way up to manager and, with Klaus taking a few extra shifts, they are living comfortably. They’re never going to be millionaires, but Klaus starts to look more seriously at real estate listings for bigger apartments in a nicer part of town.

And, of course, that’s when Reginald has to die and ruin everything.

~~~~~~~~

Klaus is the only one of his siblings to actually receive a phone call about his father’s death. He has no idea how Pogo found his phone number (or has he had it all along?) but Klaus is just glad he doesn’t have to find out from the news or something equally as ridiculous.

The day of the funeral dawns cloudy, unseasonably cold, and unlucky from the start. It begins with Katie being unexpectedly called into work. 

“No, I understand that no one else is available,” she argues with another manager. “Can’t you manage with only three servers? No, I have my daughter today. I’m not available.” A long pause. “ _ Fine _ , but I can’t make it there until ten.” She hangs up and runs a hand through her hair, making it stand on end. “Asshole.” 

“Oh! Mommy said a bad word!” Elizabeth shouts gleefully from where she’s eating cereal on the couch. Katie smacks a hand over her mouth and whirls around with wide eyes. 

“Can we not tell Daddy what I said, sweetheart?” she asks, pulling her hand away from her face. She gives Klaus too much shit about swearing in front of Elizabeth for him to know what she’d done. 

“Secrets are bad, Mommy,” Elizabeth says solemnly and Katie curses what a good, honest child they’re raising. Before she can continue to make her case, Klaus bursts into the room in a tizzy. 

“Have you seen my blue shawl?” he asks, practically vibrating out of his skin as he paces the room. “It would go perfectly with my leather pants but I can’t find it anywhere!” He dramatically falls onto the couch with a hand over his eyes like a fainting lady. Elizabeth giggles. 

“I think it’s in your closet, Klaus,” says Katie. She dumps the dirty dishes in the sink for Klaus to clean once she leaves. “By the way, you know how you were worried your family wouldn’t believe you were clean?” 

Klaus groans without looking up. “Yeah?”

“Well, you’re going to have living proof with you because you’re taking Elizabeth,” Katie cringes and waits. 

“What?” Klaus cries, sitting up immediately. “I can’t! I don’t want to expose Elizabeth to my family. They can be really horrible.” He glances at his daughter who blinks up at him innocently.

“I have to go to work,” Katie laments. “There’s no one else available and it’ll be a write-up if I don’t show. We can’t afford for me to lose this job.”

“I wanna say let’s ask Elias, but…” Klaus trails off. Katie just nods. Elias is the only one of their friends that’s guaranteed to not have work, but recently he’s been dipping back into the drugs and skipping NA meetings. They all know what drug addiction can do to people and no longer leave him alone in their apartment, much less with their child.

“Ask Bill and Sonya,” Katie says, gathering up her things. “One of them might be free, but if they’re not, you’re just gonna have to take her.” Klaus sighs deeply, but nods. He sends Katie off with an over exaggerated kiss on the cheek and turns to Elizabeth. 

“Alright!” He claps his hands together. “Let’s tackle these dishes.”

Three hours later, Klaus is arriving to the funeral late with Elizabeth in tow. While trying to find a sitter, Sonya’s phone went to voicemail three times before she answered it hungover and in no state to watch a child. Bill just straight up didn’t answer, so the same is probably true of him. 

Klaus gets off the bus with his tote bag on his shoulder and Elizabeth skipping at his heels as tries to collect his thoughts. On one hand, he can finally prove to his siblings that he’s not a total screw up. On the other (much more important) hand, Elizabeth is about to be thrown head first into the Hargreeves family drama. On an underlying good note, Reginald is dead! Klaus has never felt this strange mix of glee and frustration before. He slows down as the mansion becomes visible up ahead. 

“Okay, baby,” he says, glancing down at his daughter. “You have to remember that Daddy hasn’t seen his siblings since before you were born, so they might be a little bit mean.”

Elizabeth furrows her brow. “Why would they be mean, Daddy?” 

“Because we didn’t get along when we were kids,” Klaus answers gently instead of the ‘because we’re all screwed in the head’ that he wants to spit out. Elizabeth frowns but seems to accept the answer, which is good because the door is right in front of them. 

“Best behavior,” he reminds her before opening the door. He’s immediately met with raised voices. 

“How can you say that?” cries a muffled voice Klaus quickly identifies as Allison. It’s colored slightly with hurt that Klaus doesn’t know the cause of. Diego starts yelling something about Dad that Klaus doesn’t care to repeat and he’s had enough. 

“Alright, Lizzy, how’d you like to meet your grandma?” he whispers. Elizabeth’s eyes light up and she hurriedly nods. She’s been hearing stories about Klaus’ mom for years--about the best chocolate chip cookies ever to always perfect lipstick. Klaus may have neglected to mention the robot part, but that can always come later. 

They tiptoe down the stairs and quickly find Grace in the kitchen just as she finishes washing some dishes. 

“Oh, hello, Klaus, dear.” She beams at him, not faltering a bit when she spots Elizabeth. “And who’s this?”

“This is Elizabeth, Mom,” Klaus says with a proud smile. “My daughter.”

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Elizabeth,” Grace says, looking delighted. “Such a beautiful name, that is. Would you like to help me make some cookies?”

Elizabeth jumps up in glee, but looks to Klaus for permission. Klaus nods and Elizabeth quickly grabs Grace’s waist in a huge hug. Grace automatically brings her arms up to hug her back, but looks almost startled at the easy show of affection. Who knows how long it’s been since one of her kids came back to visit?

“I’ll be right back, Elizabeth,” Klaus says. He reaches out and ruffles her hair. “I just need to talk to my siblings.”

“About the yelling?” asks Elizabeth, pulling out of the hug.

Klaus nods. “About the yelling.” 

He leaves the kitchen just as Elizabeth smiles up at Grace and asks, “Can I call you Grandma?” He misses Grace’s eyes fogging with tears and her quick nod, but it’s hard to miss Elizabeth’s squeal of delight.

Klaus chuckles as he climbs the stairs back towards the first floor. At least one member of his family got along with his daughter. Hopefully the rest will follow.

He bursts into the living room with his usual aplomb. “Dearest siblings! How are you today?” Collapsing into a chair, he puts his feet up on the table. 

“Klaus?” Allison looks shocked. 

“What are you doing here?” asks Luther, having been interrupted in the middle of his speech.

“Pogo called me,” Klaus answers offhandedly. “Isn’t that why you’re all here?”

“Pogo  _ called  _ you?” Diego asks incredulously. “You have a phone?”

“Of course I have a phone, brother of mine!” Klaus exclaims, cheery grin fixed upon his face. “How else would I make calls?”

“Are you high?” says Allison, raising an eyebrow. “At Dad’s funeral?”

Klaus gasps in offense. “Of course not! I’m done with all that.” Luther snorts and rolls his eyes. Klaus moves to continue defending himself, but his brother has already moved on. 

“Now that we’re all here,” he starts with an annoyed glance at Klaus. “We can seriously begin talking about the circumstances surrounding Dad’s death.”

“I thought it was heart failure,” Klaus says. He pulls a granola bar out of his bag and loudly unwraps it, shoving half into his mouth. What can he say? Being back at home is bringing him back to his childish urges.

Diego sends him a disgusted look, but begrudgingly agrees. “It  _ was _ heart failure. Luther is just chasing ghosts.”

“That saying is very inaccurate,” mutters Klaus, finishing his snack and shoving the wrapper back into his bag. “I happen to personally know that ghosts usually chase you.” Vanya turns to him, concerned, but he waves her off.

“That reminds me, Klaus,” says Luther. “I need you to summon Dad.” He crosses his arms over his chest, heedless of how quickly Klaus has frozen. 

Klaus blinks at him. “Oh, no way.”

“What, why not?”

“I just don’t think it’s the right time, you know?” Klaus gets to his feet and starts to pace, fiddling with his shawl. “I’m not in the right mindset.” As soon as he says it, Klaus cringes, knowing it was a mistake.

“You  _ are  _ high!” Allison cries. Vanya bites her lip, but says nothing, clearly agreeing. Diego just rolls his eyes like he expected nothing else. 

“No!” Klaus says, stopping his pacing to face everyone. “I’ve been clean for like five years now, okay? I’m not high. I just don’t think it’s a good idea to summon horribly abusive ghosts with a child in the house!” Everyone stops dead.

“A… child?” says Allison, something strangely sad in her eyes. “What child?” Klaus sighs in frustration. 

“I wanted to wait until after whatever conversation this is was over,” he starts. “But… follow me.” He turns and leaves the room without giving them a chance to respond. After a moment of hesitation, everyone gets up and follows him out. 

By the time they all make it down to the kitchen, Klaus is deep into a discussion with Elizabeth about what kind of cookie is the best. He’s stuck on white chocolate macadamia, an old childhood favorite, but Elizabeth is in favor of chocolate chip. 

“Ah, yes, you’re finally here!” he exclaims when he sees them standing hesitantly in the doorway. “Come in, come in. I want you to meet Elizabeth.” Elizabeth gives them a shy wave and turns to Klaus. 

“Are they your family, daddy?” she asks in a loud whisper. Behind her, Diego mouths ‘daddy’ in shock.

“Yeah, baby, they are,” answers Klaus in an equally loud whisper. “That’s your aunt Vanya there and aunt Allison behind her. Uncle Luther is the big one and uncle Diego is the one who looks like he’s going to fall over.” Elizabeth giggles and extends her arms to be picked up. Klaus quickly complies, sweeping his daughter up into his arms with an over exaggerated flourish. She laughs again and buries her face in his shoulder. 

“I don’t understand.” Allison screws her face up in confusion. “Klaus, do you have a  _ kid _ ?”

“More like a little bug.” Klaus taps Elizabeth’s nose when she looks up again. She wrinkles her nose.

“Daddy, ‘m not a bug!”

“You’re not?” Klaus blinks in faux surprise. He continues to tease her as he carries her over to where the freshly baked cookies have been cooling. He grabs one and takes a bite, letting out a loud moan.

“Best cookie ever,” he says. Elizabeth makes grabby hands at it, but he holds it out of reach. “What do we say?” 

“Please!” she cries, practically bouncing in his arms. Klaus deposits her on the kitchen counter and hands her a fresh cookie. 

“Slowly,” he advises as she takes a huge bite. She nods, crumbs already on her cheeks. Klaus smiles at her, and just then his phone rings. 

Checking the caller ID, he nods at his siblings and leaves the room. From outside, they can hear him greet whoever’s on the other end of the phone. 

“This is weird, right?” says Luther, eyes locked on the little girl still sitting on the counter. 

“Why didn’t we know about her?” Vanya mumbles almost to herself. 

“How could we?” asks Allison, staring at Elizabeth with what could almost be called longing. “I mean, we haven’t talked to Klaus in, what? Twelve years?” The others hummed in agreement, except Diego, who had a considering look on his face. 

Klaus comes back in with a serious expression. “Alright, Elizabeth, it’s time to get going.” Elizabeth pouts.

“But, Daddy!” She wordlessly gestures at the cookies, as if that’s all the explanation needed. 

Klaus smiles tightly. “I’m sure your Grandma can pack us some to take home if you just ask nicely.” Elizabeth immediately turns to Grace with a pleading expression. 

Grace beams at her granddaughter--and isn’t that a fun thought! She’s a grandma!-- and pulls some tupperware down from the cabinet. 

“Would anyone else like some cookies?” she asks, this time to the others. “It’s absolutely no trouble to wrap some up for you!”

“No, we’re okay, Mom,” says Diego.

“Klaus, what about the funeral?” asks Allison, deciding to focus on the problem she understands. “Are you not staying for it?”

Klaus looks at Elizabeth to make sure she’s occupied filling the container and says quietly, “A friend of mine is in the hospital. I need to go make sure he’s okay.”

“Oh no, what happened?” Allison gasps.

“I’m not gonna go into that right now,” Klaus says, glancing back at Elizabeth. “The hospital doesn’t allow children to visit outside of visiting hours, so I need to figure out where Elizabeth is going.”

“You can leave her here!” Allison says immediately, eyes lighting up. When Klaus hesitates, she continues. “It’ll give us a chance to get to know her a little. She’ll be perfectly safe, Klaus.” After a moment, Klaus nodded slowly.

“Alright,” he says. “Let me tell Elizabeth, then I’ll get going.” He crosses the room to crouch in front of his daughter and begins having a quiet conversation.

“I can’t believe Klaus is a dad,” Diego says quietly.

“Is it even safe for her to be living with him?” asks Luther. Allison lightly hits his arm.

“I’m sure Klaus is a great dad,” she retorts. “She obviously loves him.”

“Love isn’t always enough,” murmurs Vanya. Allison gives her a confused look, so Vanya explains. “I’m a teacher. I’ve seen a few kids in bad situations. Their parents usually love them, but that doesn’t mean they’re good parents.” She pauses to let it sink in. “But I don’t think it’s like that with Klaus and Elizabeth.”

Klaus pulls Elizabeth in for a hug and she clings to his neck for a moment before pulling away.

“I’ll be back in a few hours,” Klaus says to the room at large. “Be good.” He ruffles Elizabeth’s hair and she bats his hand away.

As Klaus crosses the room, he leans towards his siblings. “Please, don’t fight in front of her.” He looks more serious than they’ve ever seen him when he sweeps out of the room. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which katie meets the gang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't heckle me about Five's absence I KNOW

To say Klaus was surprised to get the phone call would be… not entirely inaccurate. Elias had been backtracking lately, but Klaus didn’t know he’d gotten back onto the harder stuff. Plus, no one ever really anticipates an overdose, not even when you’re the one taking the drugs.

Leaving the house, he pulls up the Uber app on his phone and calls one. It’s an expense he usually doesn’t approve of, but desperate times and all. He watches the little dot approaching and decides he has time to call Katie 

The restaurant phone rings three times before Katie, slightly out of breath, answers with the usual response.

“Hey, Katie, it’s Klaus.”

“Klaus? Are you okay? How was the funeral?” Katie’s voice is colored with worry, even over the phone.

“I skipped it,” he says in a rush. “I had to leave Elizabeth with my siblings. Elias is in the hospital.”

“Oh my god, what happened?” 

“What do you think?” Klaus says with a sigh. “Overdose.”

Katie hums sadly, then says, “Is Elizabeth okay with your siblings? It’s pretty slow here. I don’t know what the other manager was thinking. I could leave.”

“Please, do. I’ll tell them you’re coming to get Lizzy.” Seeing his Uber driver pulling up, Klaus quickly says goodbye and hangs up. Once in the car, he dials the Hargreeves home number from memory.

“Hargreeves residence.” It’s Pogo on the phone.

“Pogo, it’s Klaus,” Klaus fidgets in his seat. “I had to leave Elizabeth with Allison. Can you let everyone know that Elizabeth’s mom is coming to get her in a little while? It’s a woman named Katie Jones.”

“Certainly, Master Klaus,” Pogo replies with his usual even tone. Klaus hangs up just as he arrives at the hospital and it’s only as he’s reaching Elias’ room that he realizes he never even told Pogo about Elizabeth. 

“What a stalker,” he mutters under his breath, unable to keep the fondness from his voice. Pogo was a bright spot in their sad excuse for a childhood.

“Hey, Elias,” Klaus pitches his voice low. He rounds the hospital bed and is surprised to find Elias’ eyes open. They flick to him. “Buddy!” 

Elias gives him a tremulous smile and Klaus is dismayed to see tears forming in his eyes.

“Klaus, I tried so hard,” Elias stutters out between sobs. “I really did and I know you’re disappointed and you’re not gonna support me anymore, but I’m so sorry.”

Klaus kneels by Elias’ bedside and grabs the younger man’s hand. “I’m not disappointed, Elias! You’re gonna be okay.” He glances around and, seeing a chair, awkwardly hooks his foot around the leg and pulls it towards himself, nearly falling over in the process. Elias laughs despite himself.

He hiccups. “I got evicted. I didn’t have anywhere to go and it was like I couldn’t stop myself from doing everything again.” 

Klaus strokes Elias’ hand. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”

“I’ll try harder, I promise!” 

Klaus remembers having a nearly identical conversation with Diego when they were eighteen or nineteen. Diego wasn’t as kind as Klaus is hoping to be.

“We’re all gonna try harder,” he says. “We all should’ve noticed you were struggling.” Elias smiles through his tears and Klaus can tell the sentiments have gotten through.

“Now.” Klaus pats Elias’ hand. “You’re gonna come stay with Katie and I for a while, okay? Just until we figure out the apartment thing.”

“Your apartment is the size of a shoe box,” Elias says. “Where will I sleep, on top of the fridge?”

“Of course not,” Klaus scoffs. “That’s where I sleep.” 

Elias pauses for a second, then bursts into laughter, burying his face in his pillow. He’s only just gotten a hold of himself when a frantic Sonya comes running through the door. 

“Oh, my poor baby,” she coos, sitting herself down on the edge of Elias’ bed. She cups his cheek gently, mindful of the black eye Klaus has been too scared to ask about. Elias easily leans into the comfort. As the oldest of their little group, Sonya had established herself as an almost maternal figure early on in their friendship. That is, a maternal figure who dry relapses at least once every year, almost like clockwork, and lives above a bar for some godforsaken reason. At least alcohol had never really been her problem and, to be fair, she had yet to fully relapse back into drugs.

It’s barely fifteen sappy minutes later that Bill arrives, serious face at total odds with the colorful bouquet of flowers in his hand. He claps Elias on the shoulder and quickly retreats to stand behind Klaus. Physical contact isn’t really Bill’s thing. Neither is talking. He did used to sell the cleanest cocaine in the city, though, and Klaus would know.

“So, Klaus, who did you end up leaving Elizabeth with?” asks Sonya a few minutes later, when Elias starts to visibly strain under the attention.

“Lizzy and I made a splash at the funeral together,” Klaus says with a grin. “But, I had to leave her with my sister when I got the call from the hospital.”

“Klaus, you didn’t have to come over so fast,” says Elias, furrowing his brow. “I would’ve been fine by myself for a little while longer.”

Klaus shushes Elias. “Don’t be stupid,” he says. “Obviously, I had to rush over here.”

“Is Beth okay with your siblings?” Sonya says, biting her lip. “I know you’ve complained about them before.” 

Klaus hums in agreement and reaches for his bag only to find Bill holding it out to him.

“You sent Katie, right?” he says. When Klaus nods, he continues. “Go over yourself. We’ll deal with the problem child.”

Elias lets out a weak “Hey!” that goes largely unnoticed as Klaus gathers his things. He leans over Elias’ bed and plants a wet, smacking kiss on Elias’ cheek.

“I’ll be back to kidnap you later!” Klaus says cheerfully as a disgusted Elias wipes his cheek with the back of his hand.

Klaus flits out the door with a wave, only dropping his cheerful facade when out of his friends’ view. If asked about his least favorite place, it would be… well, the mausoleum where Reginald used to lock him up, but hospitals would be a very close second.

“Excuse me,” he says, moving aside for a woman in a red dress. It’s only a few seconds and a weird glance from a nurse later that Klaus registers that the woman’s dress wasn’t red and she also wasn’t alive. He shudders, picking up the pace until he’s out of the hospital. 

Since he’s getting slightly worried about the lack of response from Katie, Klaus allows himself another Uber.

It’s only twenty minutes later as he opens the door to the Hargreeves mansion that he realizes his mistake in sending Katie.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Katie is having a bit of a rough day. First, she gets called into work on her day off, only to find it wasn’t even necessary. Then, she has to argue with a customer about why smoking isn’t allowed inside restaurants, which escalates to a shouting match. And  _ then _ , Elias is suddenly in the hospital and she’s cursing herself for not seeing what was right in front of her face.

All in all, it’s not the best day to be meeting her best friend’s family for the first time, but needs must. At least she got out of work early.

She tries in vain to make herself presentable on the bus ride, but there’s only so much she can do with her stained work jeans and restaurant-issued t-shirt. She adds a bit of lipstick and puts her hair up, hoping for the best, but not really knowing what to expect. 

Katie’s eyes nearly fall out of her head upon seeing the size of the house in which Klaus grew up. Even walking up to the door feels like a daunting task.

She rings the doorbell and waits, shuffling her feet, until a tall blonde woman answers the door.

“Can I help you?” she inquires with a polite smile.

“Uh, hi,” says Katie. She hitches her bag higher onto her shoulder. “I’m Katie Jones? I’m here for Elizabeth.”

The woman’s eyes practically light up. “Oh, you’re Elizabeth’s mother! Come in, please, you’re always welcome. I’m Grace, Klaus’ mother.”

Katie follows Grace further into the house. As the other woman opens a door off to the side, Katie is hit with a wall of noise. Inside, Elizabeth is gleefully plucking at a delicate looking violin, while a brown haired woman sits on the couch in front of her, moderating. Next to them, a taller woman has turned to look at Katie with elegant brows furrowed in confusion. 

“Oh, uh, hello,” says the taller woman. “Who are you?” 

Katie glances to the side, only to realize that Grace has already turned and left. 

“I’m Katie,” she says, wringing her hands. “Elizabeth’s mom?” She’s about to continue when Elizabeth finally breaks the spell of the violin and spots her mother.

“Mommy!” she shrieks and the brown haired woman is hard-pressed to grab the violin before Elizabeth drops it. The little girl throws herself at Katie and Katie laughs, catching her easily.

“Hey, sweetheart,” she says. “Did you have fun with your aunts?” She smooths down the fly aways on Elizabeth’s head. 

Elizabeth nods hurriedly. “Yeah, Aunt Vanya was teaching me violin!” She turns on her puppy dog eyes with practiced ease. “Can I get a violin, mommy, please?” she draws out the ‘please’ until Katie puts a finger over her mouth.

“We’ll see,” she says. Elizabeth jumps up and down in delight and rushes back over to the brown haired woman, who Katie assumes is Vanya. The other woman--Allison, she thinks, using process of elimination--gets up and holds her hand out. 

“It’s nice to meet you,” she says. “I’m Allison.” Mentally, Katie does a fist bump.

“Katie,” she says, smiling awkwardly. “But, you already knew that.” Allison smiles and they dissolve into an awkward silence. 

“I’m, uh,” Katie starts. “I’m so sorry about your father.” Just because Klaus doesn’t like the man doesn’t mean the others don’t. Allison shoots her a grateful look and opens her mouth to respond, but just then the door bursts open and two arguing men enter. 

The first is probably the most muscular man Katie has ever seen and she mentally dubs him as Luther, remembering Klaus’ stories. The second has a wicked looking scar on the side of his head and is wearing… fetish gear? Katie doesn’t know, but assumes that he’s Diego.

They stop talking the minute they see Katie, who gives them a small wave, hoping to lessen the tension. 

“Who’s this?” asks Luther, seemingly struck dumb by the sight of a stranger in his house. 

“I’m Katie,” Katie says, starting to regret ever entering the building. Luther just stares at her, confused, until Allison pipes up.

“She’s Elizabeth’s mom,” she says. She glances at Katie. “Here to get Elizabeth, right?”

“Pogo mentioned that Klaus called,” says Diego, sending Katie a suspicious look. “”What’d you say your last name was?”

Katie blinks. “Jones?”

Diego’s glare lessens but doesn’t disappear. “Okay, that’s the name Klaus gave.”

“Um.” Everyone turns to Katie. “I’m just here to pick up my daughter, then we should get going. I need to stop at the grocery store.”

“Didn’t we go to the store yesterday, mommy?” Elizabeth asks innocently. Katie closes her eyes in resignation. Leave it to her daughter to poke holes in her excuses. 

“Oh, I guess you’re right, sweetheart,” Katie laughs nervously, catching a small smirk from Vanya as the woman turns away.

“So, how did you and Klaus meet?” asks Allison with an overly polite smile.

“At a bar,” says Katie quickly. “About, um… wow, like, ten years ago.” She isn’t about to tell them about her and Klaus’ real meeting in rehab. Especially not in front of Elizabeth, who doesn’t know about the kind of stuff her parents used to get into.

Allison hums, almost to herself. Katie’s eyes dart to the door, considering making her escape, but social niceties hold her captive.

Just then, her salvation arrives. The front door clicks open and a moment later, Klaus is bursting into the room as if running from something. He casts a suspicious look around the room, letting his eyes rest on Katie and Allison.

“Are you interrogating my Katie?” he asks. Katie nods, but Allison quickly denies it.

“We just want to know about your life, Klaus,” she says earnestly. “You’ve changed so much. We all have.”

“That tends to happen when you don’t see someone for twelve years, Allison,” Klaus says not unkindly. He doesn’t give her a chance to respond as he continues. “How was the funeral?”

“We didn’t have it,” says Diego, leaning against the wall and idly flipping a knife up in the air. 

Klaus turns to him. “What, why not?”

“We wanted everyone to be here,” says Allison gently. “But, we could do it now?” Klaus looks taken aback. 

“Oh, okay,” he says. “We can do it now.” Everyone else murmurs in agreement and soon, they’re trooping outside to an apparently predetermined spot in the courtyard. 

Elizabeth takes both her parents’ hands and follows them outside. As they leave the living room, Vanya approaches Klaus.

“Is your friend okay?” she asks softly. Everything about Vanya is soft. Klaus remembers how hard she used to cry when they killed ants in front of her. Katie perks up, having a personal stake in the question herself.

Klaus hesitantly smiles at his sister. “Elias is gonna be fine. But…” he trails off, turning to Katie. “I did maybe offer him a place to stay for a while? Apparently, he was evicted a while back.” 

“Why didn’t he tell us?” asks Katie in shock. Vanya is slightly surprised at her non-reaction, but then again, Katie seems to know this ‘Elias’, too. Vanya knows she would be slightly annoyed if her boyfriend? Husband? Neither of them are wearing rings, but Vanya would be annoyed if her partner let someone stay at their house without asking her.

Klaus shrugs helplessly and the conversation dies. Vanya sees her chance to reconnect with her least horrible family member slipping away from her.

“If Elizabeth is serious about violin,” she blurts out. “I could teach her. I mean, that’s what I do for a living, but it’d be free for you guys. Family discount, right?” She laughs nervously as they stare blankly at her. “It’d give me a chance to get to know her, y’know? She is my niece.” She bites her lip.

Katie smiles at her and stops walking, reaching out to touch Vanya’s shoulder.

“That’s really sweet, Vanya,” she says, still smiling. “We’ll think about it.” She, Klaus, and Elizabeth pull on ahead as they get to the courtyard, but Vanya finds herself slightly out of breath.

Her cheeks are burning, she realizes with shock. All that from a simple touch on the shoulder by a pretty woman. A pretty,  _ taken  _ woman?

God, Vanya needs to get laid.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Vanya has self worth issues and Elizabeth is cute. Not necessarily in that order.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated this. Most of this chapter has been sitting in my WIPs for months now, it just needed a few more paragraphs

The funeral is a disaster, Klaus decides midway through. A disaster of epic proportions, just like their family. So maybe it isn’t a disaster? Who knows?

Pogo begins the service with a  _ lovely  _ speech about their dear father’s virtues, but Diego quickly derails it.

“He was a monster,” he says and Klaus tries hard not to snort, but doesn’t quite manage to hold it in. Katie elbows him, more for the fact that they’re at a funeral than any respect she feels Reginald deserves. 

Soon enough, Luther and Diego are shouting at each other. Luther pulls his arm back and Klaus immediately shouts.

“Hey! Break it up, you guys. Impressionable child here!” He crosses his arms and gives them his best ‘disappointed dad’ look. It isn’t great, but it does get them to stop. 

“Would anyone like something to eat?” asks Grace, smiling as if nothing has happened. Klaus frowns at her in confusion. Isn’t she supposed to stop things like this?

“Is mom okay?” says Allison, equally confused. Diego’s eyes dart to Grace.

“Yeah, she just needs to rest. Y’know, recharge,” Diego clarifies, though even he looks a little unsure. He starts to lead Grace back inside and everyone else soon follows. Klaus swoops a quickly tiring Elizabeth up into his arms, where she curls into his shoulder. Katie rubs a hand up and down Elizabeth’s back as they enter the house. 

“We should be getting back,” says Klaus. “Katie and I have work in the morning. Elizabeth has school and we still need to figure out something for dinner.”

“You could stay here for dinner,” says a hopeful Grace from up ahead. She turns to Klaus with a bright smile. “I’m making meatloaf!”

“We actually have some meat thawing already,” says Katie. 

“Oh,” Grace says, not dropping her smile. “Well, you’ll have to visit soon. I want to get to know my granddaughter.” Klaus readily agrees, heading towards the door.

“Hey, Klaus,” calls Diego. “Could I talk to you for a minute?”

Klaus turns to him with a furrowed brow. He wordlessly passes a nearly asleep Elizabeth to Katie and follows his brother into another room.

“What’s up, my bro?” says Klaus, trying to keep it light and hoping Diego isn’t going to start anything.

“Why didn’t you call me when you were getting sober?” Diego says. “You had to know I would’ve supported you, right? I could have helped.” He looks almost hurt.

Klaus opens and closes his mouth several times, unsure of what to say. He settles on, “I didn’t think you would care. You all made it pretty clear you wanted nothing to do with me.”

Diego slams his hand against the wall next to Klaus. Klaus jumps like a startled rabbit and Diego cringes, looking guilty. 

“Sorry,” he mutters. “Klaus, we’re your family!  _ I’m _ your family, forget the others. I’m here for you, man.”

Klaus smiles weakly. “It didn’t feel like that at the time.”

“Well, for what it’s worth.” Diego looks down at his feet, and forces the words out. “I’m sorry. And I’m here for you now. We’re brothers!” 

Almost immediately, Klaus is helpless to stop himself drawing Diego into a hug. He buries his face in his brother’s shoulder, trying valiantly to avoid crying as Diego holds him tightly. He remembers how scared he was to contact his siblings, how worried he still is about being rejected, and can’t help laughing a little at himself. He pulls back and wipes his eyes.

“We should get together some time,” Klaus says. “Give me your phone.” Diego grins and easily hands over his cell. Klaus puts in his information, then texts himself.

“There,” he says, handing it back. “Now I’ve got your number.” 

Diego clasps his shoulder. “I’ll see you?”

Klaus nods. “Definitely.” They walk back out into the hallway, neither able to hide their grins, and Klaus is quickly whisked away by his little family. 

“What was that about?” asks Luther.

Diego narrows his eyes at him. “None of your business.”

“Diego, c’mon,” protests Allison, but he’s already on his way out the back. Barely stopping to kiss Grace goodbye, Diego is soon in his car on his way… anywhere else.

Soon enough, he gets stuck in traffic, and decides that now’s as good a time as any to make a phone call. He easily pulls up one of his few contacts and holds the phone to his ear. 

“Hey, Beaman, how’s it going?” he says when it’s picked up. The man on the other end expresses his surprise at Diego calling. Diego laughs. “Yeah, I know it’s weird. But, do you remember that favor I asked a while ago?”

“What, to keep an eye out for a junkie with hand tattoos?” says Beaman, eye roll nearly audible even on the phone. “Nope, doesn’t ring any bells.”

Diego smothers another laugh. “Yeah, that one. You can call that off.”

“Oh, shit, Diego,” Beaman lowers his voice. “Did your mysterious missing person finally… y’know?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Diego reassures him. “But, I did find him. Thanks for all your help.”

“What? Man, what is going on? First you’re calling off a five year long search, now you’re   _ thanking  _ me?” Beaman says incredulously. “Who are you and what have you done to the Diego I know?” Diego laughs and hangs up. 

The rest of the way home, he’s unable to stop smiling. 

~~~~~~~

Klaus has many regrets-- being an addict, not having a boyfriend, shrinking his favorite shirt in the wash last week, but what he’s most regretting right now is ever letting Elizabeth meet Vanya. 

“And Ashley at school plays the cello, daddy!” Elizabeth is saying. She has not stopped naming reasons why she should learn the violin since they got home yesterday. “And my teacher says she used to play the violin and she’s sad that she stopped. And Mrs. Perkins says music is good for little kids.”

“Love,” Klaus interrupts her. He turns off the stove and kneels down. “I think the violin sounds fun, but are you sure you won’t get bored of it? I don’t want Aunt Vanya coming over for nothing.” 

“I won’t!” There’s a stubborn set to Elizabeth’s jaw that says she’s not giving this up. Katie says she gets it from Klaus. Klaus says it’s from Katie. “Please, daddy?”

“Oh, alright,” Klaus sighs and returns to the food as his daughter cheers. “Mommy and I will talk to Aunt Vanya.”

Katie finds herself inviting Vanya into their apartment the very next day. 

“It’s great of you to do this,” she says. “Are you sure you won’t accept any money?”

“It’s for family,” says Vanya softly. “I’m not taking your money.” Katie sends her a smile that has a blush rocketing up Vanya’s face.

“Um,” Vanya clears her throat. She opens her mouth uselessly and searches desperately for something to say. Her eyes fix on top of the fridge. “Is that a mannequin?” 

“What?” Katie follows Vanya’s gaze and laughs. “Oh, that’s just Dolores.”

“It has a name?”

“Klaus used it to practice hairstyles on when he was in beauty school,” Katie explains. “Lizzy was about three at the time? And she decided it needed a name. No idea how she chose ‘Dolores’ but here we are.” 

“Oh,” Vanya says. She finds herself wanting to know more about Klaus and beauty school, but before she can ask, Lizzy is barreling out of a nearby room.

“Aunt Vanya!” she shrieks, jumping up and down and grabbing her aunt around the waist. Vanya laughs and hugs her back, glad she had already set the violin down. 

To Vanya’s surprise, a tall black haired man follows Lizzy into the kitchen. He is wearing fuzzy pajama pants and his hair is flattened on one side as if he’s only just waking up at--Vanya checks her watch--four o’clock in the afternoon.

“Uh, hi?” he says, voice surprisingly soft. “Who’s this?”

“This is Klaus’s sister, Vanya,” says Katie, crossing the room to rub his back and usher him into a chair. “Vanya, this is Elias.”

“The one Klaus mentioned?” Vanya asks, releasing Elizabeth. The little girl bounces over to the table and climbs into Elias’s lap. “Who’s staying with you?”

“Busted,” Elias grins weakly. “I’m mooching off of my friends.”

“You’re not mooching if we want you here,” says Katie. “How many times do we have to tell you that?”

“At least one more.” The silence stretches on endlessly. 

“Can I play violin now?” Lizzy chirps, breaking it. Thank god for small children, Vanya thinks.

Katie laughs. “Yeah, go ahead. Is the living room okay, Vanya?”

“Uh, y-yeah, the living room’s fine,” Vanya says, only somewhat distracted by the many questions swirling around in her brain.

The next hour or so is filled with Vanya teaching Elizabeth a few basic finger positions while Elias and Katie begin making dinner. 

After a while, Elizabeth starts getting fidgety, so Vanya decides to pack it up for the day. 

“Show me the fingering we practiced,” she says. “And that’ll be it for right now.”

As Elizabeth painstakingly stretches her fingers to reach the strings, across the room Katie turns to where Elias is cutting an onion.

“You never actually told us what happened,” she says softly. “Klaus said something about you getting evicted?”

Elias sighs and puts the knife down, onion in pieces. “The restaurant where I was working closed down and no one else wanted to hire me.” A sardonic smile pulls at his lips. “Not with my history.” 

Katie rolls her eyes and stirs the pan so quickly a piece of garlic flies out. She stops. “It’s ridiculous how people can be about drug sentences. You’re clean now. The rest of it shouldn’t matter.”

“Well,  _ we _ know that,” Elias says, shrugging. “Whatever. I just need to figure myself out.” 

Katie pats him on the shoulder. “That’s the spirit!” She over exaggerates a thumbs up, laughing.

Elias snorts. “Careful, your Klaus is showing.”

Katie puts her hand on her chest, mouth open in mock offense. “How dare you!”

Elias points at her. “More Klaus!” They collapse into laughter, causing Elizabeth and Vanya to look over in confusion. 

“Are you alright?” Vanya asks quietly as she places her violin delicately in its case. The bow follows, then she snaps it shut. 

It’s as she’s standing, about to leave, that Klaus arrives home.

“Daddy!” Elizabeth shrieks, running and jumping into his arms. Klaus ‘oof’s but catches her and turns the stagger into a spin. 

“Love of my life!” he declares, theatrically, dropping his pink sweater onto the floor. “How are you today?”

“Aunt Vanya taught me violin!” Elizabeth says, resting her head on Klaus’s shoulder. Over her head, Klaus shoots Vanya a grin. 

“Oh, and how was that?” he asks both of them.

“Fun,” Elizabeth answers.

“She’s catching on very quickly,” Vanya says at the same time. She checks her watch. “I should probably get going.”

“Oh, did you want to stay for dinner?” Katie asks from where she’s leaning against the kitchen counter. “It’s chicken and rice.”

“Um,” Vanya hesitates. Then, she sees Klaus cross the room, still holding Elizabeth, to sloppily kiss Katie on the cheek. 

“Ew!” Katie laughs and pushes him away. The energy is easy and comfortable but all Vanya can think about is how out of place she is here. 

“Sorry,” she settles on. “I have lessons early tomorrow.”

“Oh, okay.” Katie seems almost disappointed. “Next time then!”

Vanya nods, gives a small smile, and is quickly out the door. 

If she stayed a moment longer, she would have seen Klaus kiss Elias’ cheek just as dramatically. 


	5. The Start of Something Like a Plot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keep moving forward, I guess?

It isn’t until after dinner, when Elizabeth has been put to bed and the adults are clustered in the living room that Klaus notices. 

“Oh no!” he exclaims, swooping over to grab a jacket hanging off the back of a chair. “Vanya left her jacket.”

Katie looks up from her book. “Oh, no. Think I should call her?”

“Nah,” Klaus waves her off. “She said she had early lessons. There’s some sort of family meeting I have to go to tomorrow.” He rolls his eyes. “I’ll bring it then.” 

“Are you sure? I don’t think she would mind a phone call,” Katie says, worrying at the book’s binding. 

Klaus narrows his eyes at her. “Katie, is there something I should know?” Elias glances between them, not quite connecting the dots. “About  _ Vanya? _ ”

“What? No!” Katie says, alarmed, eyes wide. “She just seems lonely!”

Klaus hums and sits back down. 

“Klaus, I’m serious!” Katie whines, slamming her book closed. “Don’t do this to me.”

“She does seem like she could use some friends,” Elias offers and Katie gestures to him in agreement. “On the other hand…” He trails off. Katie collapses onto her side in defeat and groans. 

Elias snickers and Klaus soon follows him into laughter.

“Give it up, Jones,” Klaus says, leaning over to poke Katie’s shoulder. “You’ve given me too much power over you.” 

“I want a divorce,” Katie mumbles into the couch, setting Klaus cackling

Once Klaus has somewhat gotten ahold of himself, Katie rolls off the couch and onto her feet. She plants a kiss on Elias’s forehead, then crosses to Klaus, where she pauses. 

Klaus purses his lips at her. “Where’s my kiss?”

Katie leans in as if to give him one, but instead quickly moves her finger from her mouth to his ear, effectively giving him a wet willy. Klaus shrieks and flinches away, even as Katie backs up and laughs. 

“Betrayal!” he cries, a disgusted look on his face. “How could you!” 

Elias watches the exchange with wide, amused eyes. 

Klaus pushes a piece of his t-shirt into his ear in an effort to clean it, face screwed up the whole time. 

“Drama queen,” Katie mutters, rolling her eyes. Klaus opens his mouth to yell and she holds up a finger. “Ah-ah. Forgetting something? Lizzy’s sleeping.” Klaus immediately settles back into the couch, pouting for all he is worth. Katie just yawns through her smile. 

“I’m going to bed,” she says, stretching her arms above her head and turning towards the hallway. “Both of you remember to sleep.”

Klaus flaps a hand to mimic Katie talking and Elias has to cover his mouth with a hand to stop a snort from escaping. Klaus sends him a lopsided grin, even as Katie turns around to give them a suspicious look. 

Klaus just smiles angelically at her until she rolls her eyes and turns to leave. Klaus makes a face at her back and Elias bursts into laughter. Katie just flips them off without breaking stride. 

On the chair, Vanya’s jacket has a bottle of pills in its pocket. 

~~~~~~~~

Vanya is so dead. 

“Shit,” she mutters to herself, pulling up her couch cushion, then dropping it and kneeling to look under the couch. “Where are they?” 

As it is, she’s running late for the third time this month and, if she doesn’t leave within the next five minutes, is definitely going to miss the bus and be even later. She pushes off the couch and to her feet, running a stressed hand through her hair. She can’t remember the last time she felt this anxious. If she could only find her pills!

Taking one more quick look around her apartment, Vanya sighs, grabs her violin, and leaves. 

She’s barely on time for rehearsal, rushing in as everyone else is setting up their sheet music. Vanya cringes when what seems like the whole orchestra turns to stare at her as she climbs the stage steps. Even Helen, who has never given Vanya a second glance, spares a second to send her a cold look.

Vanya hurriedly unpacks her violin and raises it to her chin just as the rest of the orchestra starts playing. She catches up quickly enough--you don’t become a professional musician without learning how to fake it until you make it--but soon finds herself stumbling over a transition. The person next to her gives her some heavy side eye that Vanya tries to ignore. 

Soon after, the conductor calls for a break, then addresses the violin section.

“Someone’s messing up that transition,” he says, eyes sweeping over all of them. “I couldn’t tell who. From the top.”

Vanya bites her lip, anxiety swirling inside her, and tries to quiet her mind and just let the music flow. She can hardly ever get into this mindset, where the notes seem natural, but even as she’s thinking this, she finds herself slipping right into it. 

Her notes seem stronger, the music more practiced. She closes her eyes and slows her breathing, trying to hold onto the feeling. 

Unbeknownst to her, the conductor turns to her, eyes wide, even as he continues conducting with one hand. 

Her part ends and Vanya slows to a stop with a final mournful pull of her bow, opening her eyes and letting out a breath. Maybe she’s improving more than she knows, Vanya thinks, watching Helen play her solo with just the cellos backing her up. 

A smile pulls its way across her face as Vanya raises the violin again. 

~~~~~~~~~~

When Klaus gets to the mansion, it’s far past the agreed upon time of eleven, but no one is anywhere to be seen. 

“Hello?” he calls, rocking back on his heels and adjusting a strap of the backpack he has slung over one shoulder. It’s nearly empty, set to contain any of his old belongings he wants to take home with him.

He takes a few steps up the stairs, wondering if he should call out again, when a ghost pops up in front of him.

“Ah! Fuck!” Klaus cries, nearly tumbling down the steps. He catches himself on the railing--barely. “You scared the shit--” He trails off when he recognizes the ghost. “Oh, you have got to be  _ kidding _ me.”

~~~~~~~~~

Klaus finds Luther and Allison in the surveillance room, muttering over some old tapes. Normally, he tries to avoid interrupting them (the two have always been far too close for comfort), but needs must. 

“Oh, Luther,” he sing-songs, giving his brother a fake smile when he turns around. “And dear Allison. It’s your lucky day!”

Luther sighs and looks back at the screen. “Not now, Klaus, we’re in the middle of something.”

Allison gives him a serious look. “We think Mom might have had something to do with Dad’s death. There’s video of her just leaving the room while he was dying.”

Klaus holds up a hand. “Oh, I am way ahead of you, sis. I know for a fact that Mom had nothing to do with Dad’s death. Pogo, on the other hand…”

Luther shakes his head. “What are you talking about? Why would Pogo do that?”

“Seems like that’s the question!”

“How do you even know this?” Allison’s brow furrows and she glances at Luther for support. 

Klaus tries to stop himself from visibly gagging. Oh god, he thinks, are they still..? He schools his expression into something more normal when they both turn back to him.

“Oh,” he says, gesturing behind him. “I ran into Dad on the staircase. He’s still just as bitchy.” Allison and Luther stare at him, open-mouthed. Luther’s eyes dart to the air behind Klaus.

“I thought you said you wouldn’t summon him,” Luther says dumbly. 

Klaus rolls his eyes. “I didn’t summon him. He just manifested himself. This was his decision. I--” He cuts himself to turn around and shout. “I’m doing it, for God’s sake!” 

He ignores his siblings’ confusion as he closes his eyes. He clenches his fists and takes a deep breath, tilting his head to the side. 

Allison gasps as Klaus’s fists begin to glow a bright blue. Luther pulls her back in alarm, just as their brother’s arms snap to the side and his head falls to rest on his chest. Behind him, blue light swirls into the vague shape of a person. 

“...Dad?” Luther murmurs. The light finishes coalescing and Reginald Hargreeves is standing in front of a shocked Allison and Luther.

Klaus blinks and looks up, panting. Allison vaguely notices that his hands are still glowing and his eyes are entirely white. 

Luther just stares at his father in shock, tears gathering in his eyes. Allison rests a comforting hand on his shoulder and Klaus takes that as his cue to leave. 

“Well!” He claps his hands together, trying to ignore Reginald glowering behind him. “It’s been fun. You guys can have your little reunion and I will be downstairs!”

Klaus practically jogs down the hallway and around the corner. He pops his head back only a few seconds later. 

“Oh! And if you see any other ghosties roaming the house, give me a shout, would you?” he said. “Especially that headless bitch on the third floor!” He gives an only slightly exaggerated shudder and leaves. 

Luther looks between Reginald and Allison, mouth hanging open in surprise. 

“Now is not the time for theatrics, Number One,” Reginald announces, causing Luther to snap to attention.

“Of course, sir,” he states calmly. Allison bites her lip, unsure, but ultimately leaves her hand on his arm.

“I have no faith in Number Four’s ability to keep this up for long, so we must be quick,” Reginald says. “Dr. Pogo poisoned my tea.” He rubs his chin. “I should have suspected when he brought it to me, rather than Grace.”

“Wait, why would Pogo kill you?” Allison says, incredulous. “He’s always admired you. He even said nice things at the funeral!” 

“Allison--” Luther tries to stop her, but Allison waves him off.

“How can you be sure?” she asks, crossing her arms. 

Reginald gives her a dark glare. “Do not question my authority, Number Three! Deal with Dr. Pogo.” 

Allison opens her mouth to argue, but is interrupted by Reginald fading away. She sags, all fight going out of her. 

“What was that about?” asks Luther, not unkindly. “He’s our father. You shouldn’t disrespect him.” 

Allison can practically feel the heat of about a million of these same arguments boiling up, but she pushes it down with a sigh. 

“Luther--”

The conversation is cut off by Diego rounding the corner, panting as if he’d run there. He looks around and groans in disappointment upon not seeing whatever he was looking for.

“Diego?” asks Allison, bewildered. 

Diego looks up at her. “So I missed the old bastard, then?” 

~~~~~~~~~~

Klaus wanders downstairs in a sort of haze, absently grateful that Elizabeth isn’t here to see him like this. He glides into the kitchen, skillfully sidestepping one of the few dead nannies that haunt the first floor, and turning the motion into a graceful spin. 

He hops up onto the counter and pulls down a mug, turning to the side and putting the kettle on the stove. Without even looking, he reaches to the side and pulls a tea bag out of the tin, not caring what kind he picks. 

By the time Diego strolls in, Klaus is happily sipping his tea (lemon, as it turns out!), eyes shut in contentment.

“Uh, bro?” Diego says, voice strangled. “Your hands are glowing.”

“I’m aware, mein bruder,” Klaus croons without opening his eyes. “It’s a side effect.”

“Side effect of what?” Diego sounds suspicious. 

Klaus blinks his eyes open, taking a gleeful sort of pleasure in how Diego nearly flinches back at their color. 

“Summoning ghosts, of course.” He takes another sip of his quickly cooling tea. “Dear old Dad is upstairs communing with Allison and Luther.” 

Diego’s face hardens. “Dad’s upstairs?” He turns on his heel and sprints out of the room without even asking Klaus where their siblings are.

Klaus starts to call after him, before shrugging and letting him go. Ah, well, he’ll find them eventually. 

Almost immediately, Klaus can feel his energy flowing back into his body as, upstairs,  Reginald allows himself to dissipate. He shakes his head to clear his thoughts and pulls out his phone to text Katie.

It’s going to be a long day.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to draw everyone's attention to the Alternate Universe tag so they don't question me on why things are happening. It's an AU!

“What the hell is going on?” Diego demands, following Allison and Luther into the living room, where Klaus is already curled up on the couch with another cup of tea. “Dad was here? What did he want?”

“What does he always want?” Klaus interjects with a fake smile. “For us to do his bidding, of course.” Klaus looks down at his cup, smile fading. Before anyone can respond, he’s asking brightly. “Did anyone want some tea? It’s lemon!”

“Uh, no thanks, Klaus,” Allison says, distracted. She looks to Luther. “We need to have a family meeting. We need to-to figure out what we’re going to do! I mean…  _ Pogo _ ?” She still seems unconvinced. 

“What about Pogo?” Diego says, throwing his hands up, exasperated. “If someone doesn’t explain what’s going on right now, I swear--” 

“Oh, don’t get your panties in a twist, Diego,” Klaus says, rolling his eyes. “Our dear Pogo murdered Dad.”

“Oh.” All the fight drains out of Diego and he sits down next to Klaus. “What?”

Klaus puts his tea down on the table next to the couch. “Dad manifested himself to tell us that Pogo murdered him.”

“Well, how do we know he’s telling the truth?” asks Allison, still looking conflicted.

“Why would he be lying?” Luther says, turning to Allison in confusion.

“No, Allison has a point.” Diego moves forward in his seat. “Dad could be making it up.”

“Um,” Klaus chimes in, sheepishly. “Unfortunately, I have to side with Luther here. Dad’s not lying.”

“What?” says Diego.

“How can you know that?” Allison crosses her arms.

“Ghosts can’t really lie to me,” Klaus replies, biting his lip. “It’s kind of a thing. With my powers, I mean.”

“He could still be wrong,” Diego says. He pulls a knife out of his belt and flips it once, twice, three times. “Just because he believes it doesn’t mean it’s true.”

Luther glares at them and says seriously. “Look, even if he’s wrong,  _ something _ is making Dad distrust Pogo. We need to do something about it.”

“Why don’t we, I don’t know.” Klaus rolls his eyes, gesturing with his hands. “Ask Pogo what happened?”

“Ask me what, Master Klaus?” comes Pogo’s croaky voice from behind them. Allison and Luther whirl around, moving to the sides so Klaus and Diego can see Pogo in the entryway. He suddenly looks very old and very tired. He holds up a hand. “I think I already know.” He sighs. “And I suppose I owe you an explanation.”

“Yeah!” Luther exclaims. “Yeah, no kidding!”

“Luther,” Allison scolds, placing her hand gently on his shoulder. 

Klaus turns to Diego and mimes gagging. Diego smothers an inappropriate laugh, knowing it’s not the time.

Pogo sighs deeply, moving towards the couch opposite the siblings and taking a seat. Allison follows and sits down on the same couch, but Luther stays standing, arms crossed. 

“I shall assume that Master Hargreeves’s spirit came to you,” Pogo asks Klaus, who hesitantly nods. “Well.” He rubs his chin. “I shall not accuse him of lying.”

“So you did kill Dad!” Luther cries. “How could you do that?” 

Diego shushes him and motions for Pogo to continue talking. “What happened?”

“Master Hargreeves had asked me to keep an eye on all of you after you left,” Pogo says. “And I was mostly successful. Except, I am saddened to admit that I quickly lost track of you, Master Klaus.”

“Well, y’know,” Klaus says weakly. “Could’ve happened to anyone. I was all over the place for a while.” 

“Yes, but,” Pogo sighs yet again. “Master Klaus, I did not have much hope for your future. Your childhood had been so traumatic and the drugs, of course, only worsened my suspicions.” 

Klaus laughs nervously. “We don’t really need to talk about anyone’s childhood, do we? It’s in the past and everything.”

Pogo sends him a small smile. “Yes, I suppose it is.”

“Pogo,” Luther says in confusion. “What does this have to do with anything? Why--Why would you…” He trails off for a second to clear his throat. “Do what you did.”

“When I did finally find you,” Pogo says, seeming to ignore Luther. “I was… well, shocked is as good a word as any, to find you with a child and a wife.”

“Katie’s not--” Klaus starts, but is cut off by Pogo continuing.

“It made me think hard about the kind of life Reginald almost doomed you to.” He turns to the rest of them. “Almost doomed you  _ all  _ to. The man was a horrible father, that much I could always admit, but I blinded myself to the many cruelties he committed against you.” He looks down at his lap.

Klaus finds himself blinking back tears and can see Allison doing the same across from him. Luther just stares blankly at Pogo and Diego’s knife flipping has stopped.

“So, yes,” Pogo says without a hint of regret in his voice. “I did kill Master Hargreeves. I poisoned his tea and I disabled Grace so she wasn’t able to administer first aid.”

“You disabled Mom?” Diego says incredulously.

“How could you do that?” says Luther shakily. When Allison goes to reach for him, he steps back. “He was our father.”

“Master Luther, I am so very sorry I hurt you,” Pogo says, adjusting his grip on his cane to avoid looking at Luther. “That was never my intention, believe me.”

“You.... and the rest of you are okay with this?!” Luther practically shouts, eyes moving from sibling to sibling. 

Allison bites her lip, avoiding his gaze, while Klaus just coughs awkwardly. Diego glares right back at Luther.

“And so what?” he snaps. “I stand by what I said before. He was a shit person and an even worse father. As far as I’m concerned he got exactly what he deserved.”

Luther clenches his fists, Klaus primes himself to jump over the back of the couch to escape, and this is the scene Vanya sees when she enters the room.

“Uh, guys?” she says, distracting both Luther and Diego from their brimming fight. “What’s going on?”

Allison hurriedly wipes the few tears left in her eyes and blurts out. “It’s a family meeting.” Nearly immediately, she winces. “Wait, I mean--”

“Oh, so you couldn’t invite me,” Vanya says, surprisingly bitter.

“No, it wasn’t like that,” Allison protests, getting to her feet. “I’ll fill you in later.”

“On what?” Vanya rolls her eyes. “Some crazy new Umbrella Academy situation I’m not allowed a say in? I’ll pass.”

“What, you don’t want material for your sequel?” Diego says without looking at Vanya. He flips his knife angrily. “Far as I remember, you had plenty to say in that first book.”

“Diego!” Klaus hisses and elbows him. He turns to Vanya. “You just weren’t in the house, Vanya, that’s all. The planned meeting at eleven didn’t even happen. This wasn’t official.”

“What planned meeting?” Vanya looks hurt, but her face quickly hardens. “I don’t understand why none of you can make  _ any  _ effort to include me! We’re not kids anymore! Dad’s dead. You don’t have to follow his rules!”

Next to her, a side table starts shaking, just slightly. As her voice raises in volume, the shaking continues to grow until the vase atop the table is nearly spinning.

“Uh, Vanya?” says Klaus, trying to get her attention. “The table…”

“Miss Vanya,” Pogo says, beginning to look alarmed.

“What!” Vanya snaps. “Am I not allowed to be upset?”

“No, the…” Klaus points behind her just as the vase explodes into a million pieces. Vanya shrieks and jumps away, while Luther jerks towards her. She flinches back from his sudden movement and another vase explodes across the room. 

“What the fuck?!” she cries, slowing lowering her hands from protecting her face. “Is this one of you?”

“No?” says Allison in disbelief. “How would this be us?” 

Diego scans the room, two knives at the ready. “What is going on?”

“Vanya, I think that was  _ you _ ,” Klaus says, awed. He lowers his feet from where he’d brought them to his chest. “Holy shit, maybe you do have powers.”

“What?” says Luther, skeptical. “There’s no way.”

Vanya looks at Klaus, eyes wide. “I can’t, though. I mean, I’m not stupid! I think I’d have noticed if I had powers.”

“Well, if it’s a possibility,” Allison says carefully. “Has anything changed in the last day or so?”

“Uh, I don’t, I don’t think so,” Vanya mutters, running a hand through her hair. “I mean, I went to Klaus’s yesterday, I had practice today, I…” She trails off, turning to face Pogo, a sick look on her face. “I ran out of my medication.”

“Your anxiety pills?” asks Allison, brows furrowed. “I don’t know, could that have been blocking some sort of power from developing?”

“I don’t…” Vanya just looks confused. She sits down on a chair.

“We know drugs will block powers,” Luther states, very clearly avoiding looking at Klaus.

“Yeah, we sure do,” Klaus agrees with a syrupy sweet smile directed right at Luther. Luther just continues avoiding his gaze. Klaus rolls his eyes, making Vanya smother a smile despite herself.

“Pogo?” Diego interrupts them. He narrows his eyes suspiciously at Pogo, whose eyes are fixed firmly on the floor. 

Pogo sighs deeply. “It seems that today is a day of secret telling.” And then he explains what Reginald had done, yet another sin he allowed and supported.

Afterwards, when they’re all sitting there in disbelief, Vanya gets up and calmly walks out. She ignores Allison’s grab for her hand, Klaus’s request to stay, even Diego’s and Luther’s confused stares. She just slowly climbs the stairs, the world seeming strangely muffled, the news not having sunk in quite yet.

Vanya locks herself inside her old bedroom, where there are clean sheets on the bed and no dust anywhere despite her having been gone for years. And she cries.

~~~~~~~~~

What’s left of the Umbrella Academy feels entirely useless as their sister leaves the room. Allison and Klaus lower their extended hands nearly as one and Diego awkwardly clears his throat.

“What’re we gonna, uh, do about this?” he asks, fiddling with his knife. 

Pogo gets to his feet slowly. “I will let you discuss it.” He hobbles out of the room, leaving everyone gaping after him. 

“Well,” Allison starts, only to be interrupted by a peppy song sounding within Klaus’s backpack.

“Oh, sorry,” Klaus says, unzipping his backpack and pushing Vanya’s jacket to the side to reach the phone buried at the bottom. He’s unsurprised to see that it’s Katie calling. Making one last apologetic face, he gets up and leaves the room, answering the phone as he does. “Hello?”

“Hey, Klaus, I just got off work,” Katie says, probably walking home if the noises around her are any indication. “Are you still at the Academy?”

“Yeah,” Klaus sighs, running a hand through his hair. “There’s a lot of drama going on right now.” He adds a whine to his voice, only half jokingly. “I had to summon Reginald for Allison and Luther.”

“Aw, poor baby,” Katie coos, then softens her voice. “You gonna be okay?”

“Yeah,” Klaus says. “We just need to work some stuff out.” He risks a glance back into the sitting room, where a loud argument has already developed. Diego is brandishing a knife. Klaus just rolls his eyes. “You wanna come over for dinner?”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Katie says, a note of surprise in her voice. “Is that okay?”

“I’m thinking that they can’t fight with Lizzy here,” Klaus admits, laughing a bit. “Maybe it’ll give everyone a chance to chill the fuck out. God knows they need it.”

“That’s a dollar in the swear jar, mister,” Katie snickers. 

Klaus fake gasps. “Oh no! Please! Anything but that.” Katie just laughs and it brightens Klaus’s mood immensely.  

“But, yeah, we’ll be over in a bit,” Katie says. “Should I bring something?”

“Just your beautiful selves,” Klaus says and they laugh again. “See you in a bit. Love you.”

“Love you, too.” Katie hangs up the phone and Klaus catches a glimpse of his phone background, which is one of the pictures Katie took at his graduation. It shows Klaus lifting a younger Lizzy into the air, both of them beaming like fools. It’s his background because it never fails to make him smile. 

He takes a long look at the picture before shoving his phone into his pocket and striding back into the war zone.

**Author's Note:**

> I know i'm seriously glossing over how getting sober works but i don't know a lot about that and didn't want to focus on something i wasn't familiar with. rest assured they're struggling more in parts i don't show


End file.
